Frame for two or three wheeled vehicles



March 13, 1951 B. G. FALcHETTo FRAME FOR TWO OR THREE WHEELED VEHICLESFiled April 22, 1947 6/ Fa; 5. m

Awa/wey Patented Mar. 13, 1951 Nr ortica;

FRAME FOR TWO R THREE WHEELED VEHICLES Battista Giuseppe Falchetto,Torino, Italy, as-

signor to Motcm G. m. b. H., Zurich, Switzerland Application April 22,1947, Serial No. 743,163 In Switzerland April 24, 1946 The presentinvention relates to vehicles hav ing two or three wheels, such asbicycles, motor cycles, tricycles and the like, and in particular to a.framework for such vehicles essentiallymade up of a longitudinal beamwhich, at its front end, forms a seat for the mounting of the front forkand, at the rear end, supports the rear wheel or the axle ofthe rearwheels.

The present invention has for its objectY a framework of this kind inwhich a longitudinal beam extends from the support for the front wheelto the support of the pin of the rear wheel and is formed of two,substantially alike halfshells of stamped sheet metal which are joinedtogether along their adjacent edges.

This framework, the cross-section of which preferably decreases from thefront to the rear end, includes, at intermediate points, an uppersupport for the saddle and a lower extension for carrying the pedal huband for fixing the motor in the case of a motor cycle, which support andextension have their axes parallel to the axis about which the frontfork turns and perpendicular to the axis of the beam which constitutesthe framework.

Further objects and details of the invention will be apparent from thedescription given hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawingillustrating an embodiment thereof by way of example. In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a motor bicycle with a frame according to theinvention;

way, and which is in one piece with the handle bar 3, is mounted in aninclined seat formed, for

example, by a sleeve 4 fixed to the front end of a hollow substantiallyrectilinear beam E, the length of which corresponds to that of' theframe of the vehicle, and which at the rear end divides forkwise intotwo branches 6 between which the rear wheel 'I is supported by anysuitable means.

In the embodiment shown, the longitudinal beam 5 is `formed by two likehalf-shells 8, 8 ci Fig. 2 is a cross-section along line 2 2 of Claims.(Cl. Mdm-281) stam-pcd sheet-metal, of channel section, one with itsconvex part upwards and the other with its convex part downwards, andboth joined together along their lateral edges by welding vor clamping.v

Along the lateral edges, the two half-shells preferably have an edge Eprojecting outwards as in the example shown or bent inwards so that bythe joining together of the two corresponding edges of the twohalf-shells the beam 5 as a whole is traversed lengthwise by a ribbingprojectng on each side.

The cross-section of each half-shell can have any other suitable formand thus be polygonal or round or differently curved. In the case of acurved cross-section, the curve may be more or less pronounced orflattened according to the case.

In addition the cross-section of each half-shell may vary from one zoneto the other, both as re gards the development of the proiile andthe'form of the latter.

In particular in the example shown, in which the frame is intended for abicycle, lthe two halfshells will have a continuous section up to acertain distance from the rear end, and from that point onward they willdivide into two branches y in order to form the two branches 6 betweenwhich the rear wheel l is mounted.

The two half-shells 8, 8', when once joined together, constitute a rigidhollow body which forms the frame mounted on the wheels and supportingthe various parts of the vehicle. 4

Thus the sleeve t for mountingthe front fork is xed in any suitable wayto the front end of the two half-shells B, 8'.

The attachment of the sleeve `fl to the front end of the beam can beeffected as indicated'in Fig. 2, in which case the half-shells form, attheir front ends, upper and lower recesses creating a seat for thesleeve 4 which is welded to the edges oi this seat. Y

Or else the twofhalf-shells 8 and 8 are traversed near their ends byholes corresponding to each other into which is litted the sleeve 4which is welded with its edges to the edges of the holes in thehalf-shells as indicated in Fig. 3.

In the intermediate partof the beam, the upper half-shell 8 is providedwith la projection lil intended to support a tube l I on which thesaddle i2 is mounted. The hollow projection lll may be stamped in thehalf-shell itself or else formed, as shown in Fig. 5, by a tubular piecewhich 'is joined on' the one hand to the half-shell 3 and on the otherto the tube l l.

Similarly, from the lower half-shell t of the beam, there extends ahollow projection I3 obtained by stamping or formed by a tubular lpiecefixed to the half -shell 8' (Fig. 5).

To the lower end of the piece I3, the sleeve I4 is fixed which forms thesupport for the pedal hub I5. The latter is secured to the sprocket I6which is in driving connection with the rear wheel 'I by means of achain I'I.

The sleeve Id is also joined to the lower end of the tube Il whichpasses along the entire length of the projections It and I3 and throughthe holes in the half-shells 8, 8', and which is welded to the edges ofthese holes. In this way there is formed, transversely to the hollowbeam formed by the two strips 8 and 8', a strong column which joins thesaddle support to the support of the hub.

As will be seen from Figure l this transverse column extends at rightangles to the axis of the beam formed by the half-shells 8, 8', and thesleeve 4 is likewise at right angles to the said axis.

In this way the half-shells S and 8' can be entirely alike, in otherwords the configuration of the beam is symmetrical with respect to anaxial vertical plane and also to another axial plane at right angles tothe vertical plane.

In the illustrated embodiment of a motor bicycle, the lower projectionIS also carries a means for attaching the motor I8 for which anothermeans of attachment will be formed in a lower part of the half -shell 8of the beam.

If the beam forms the frame of a motor bicycle or a motor cycle, itsfront part will preferably have the half-shells t, 8' parted over acertain length so as to create a transverse aperture which may be usedas the seat for the fuel tank (Figs. 2 and 4).

Inside this aperture each of the half-shells 3 and 8 is lined with aplate 23 welded along its edges in such a manner that each of thebranches into which the beam divides has the form of a closed box.

The tank I9 is provided with an inlet tube 2! closed by a cover 2l andwith an outlet tube 22. For these tubes holes are made in the upperhalf-shell 8 and the lower half-shell 8' of the beam respectively.

Preferably, the shape of the tank YI9 and, therefore, also that of thespace between the two half-shells for the reception of the tank iselongated in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Along this spacethe side edges 9 of the two .halfshells B and 8 are provided with alining 24 of yieldable soft material to form an elastic support for thetank I9. In this the tank is mounted elastically in the fra-me of thevehicle and the transmission to it of the vibrations of the frame isprevented.

In the illustrated case of a bicycle the beam divides at the rear endinto two branches toform the fork in which the rear wheel 'I is placed.The hub .of the wheel is supported in suitable seats 25 xed to theend'of the .fork branches.

Instead of being divided into a top half-shell and a bottom half-shell,the longitudinal beam might be divided into two lateral .half-shells, inwhich case they would be joined together along an upper edge and along alower edge. Such structure is shown in Figs. la and 5a which aresections corresponding to the sectional Figs. -4 and 5, respectively, ofthe embodiment rst described. In Fig. 4U. the two half-shells 3S and 3Sare joined along their upper `edges at 40 and along their lower edges at6. vlilach half-shell is provided with an opening Il! to the edges of:hich the aforementioned plate 23 is welded for the reception of thetank I9. In Fig. 5a. the tube II for the saddle and provided with thesleeve I4 for the pedal hub is passed through recesses 42 of thehalf-shells and secured to shell projections 43 and I4 which correspondto the projections IIl and I3, respectively, in Fig. 5. Now it will beclear that the half-shells 38 and 38', similarly to the shells 8 andIl', can be entirely alike.

What I claim is:

l. A frame for a vehicle of the type described, comprising a beam havinga longitudinal axis and being of a configuration symmetrical withrespect to a vertical axial plane and to another axial plane at rightangles to said vertical plane, said beam including two projections onopposite sides, said projections having a common axis at right angles tothe beam axis, and constituting sockets for a tube supporting a saddleand a pedal crank shaft bearing, said beam being composed of twosubstantially alike stamped half-shells joined in one of said planes.

2. A frame as claimed in claim l, said halfshells being joined in saidplane at right angles to said vertical plane.

3. A frame for a vehicle of the type described, comprising a beam havinga longitudinal axis and being of a configuration symmetrical withrespect to a vertical axial plane and to another axial plane at rightangles to said vertical plane, said beam being composed of twosubstantially alike stamped half-shells joined in one of said planes,said beam further including two opposite tubular projections having acommon axis in said vertical plane, apertures in the beam wall openinginto said projections and a tube for the at tachment thereto of supportsof a saddle .and a pedal crank bearing, said tube extending through saidprojections and apertures and being bonded to the aperture edges and theouter ends .of said projections.

4. A frame as claimed in claim 3, said tubular projections beingtruncated-cone shaped so as to taper towards their outer ends.

5. A frame for a vehicle of the type described, comprising a beam havinga longitudinal axis and being of a configuration symmetrical withrespect to a vertical axial plane and to `another axial plane at rightangles to said vertical plane, said beam being composed of twosubstantially alike stamped half-shells joined in one of ,said planes,and including two opposite tubular projections having a common axis insaid vertical plane, apertures in the beam wall opening into saidprojections, a tube extending through .said projections and aperturesand being bonded 4to the aperture edges and the outer ends of saidprojections, the upper tube end being adapted to support a saddle, andmeans secured `to the 'lower tube end for supporting a motor to drivethe vehicle.

l6. A vframe for a vehicle of the type described, comprising a beamhaving a longitudinal axis and being of a configuration symmetrical withrespect to a vertical axial plane and to another axial plane at rightangles to said vertical plane. said beam being composed `of twosubstantially alike stamped half-shells joined in said :other plane,each of said Yhalf-shells being .provided with recesses in its oppositeedges, .so kas .to 11eceive a fuel tank in said recesses of said twohalf-shells.

'7. A frame as claimed in claim further com prising a sheet metal piecesecured to the opposite recess edges of each shell so as to form a,channel complementing the channel or the other half-shell to atunnel-shaped structure for the reception therein of the fuel tank.

FALCHETIO, BATTISTA GIUSEPPE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name 1 Date Franklin et al Mar. 24, 1931 NumberNumber Number

